International football scarf collection in Rome

The collection of football scarves from clubs all over the world continues to grow at one of Rome's pubs, The Shamrock.

Located on Via del Colosseo at the Forum end of Via Cavour, The Shamrock is home to a total of 216 scarves, so many in fact that the pub currently has a few of them in storage while it prepares to make extra space for its much-photographed collection.

Shamrock boss Alessandro Corbellini told Wanted in Rome "I am proud to say that each scarf comes directly from the [club's] city of origin, and now, before embarking on a trip somewhere, I study the footballing calendar of the country I'm heading to."

Corbellini is keen for football fans coming to Rome to leave behind a memento of their team at his city-centre bar. He said that, by now, Rome-based customers know to bring back scarves from their travels but better still he says "You cannot imagine the happiness when the postman hands me a package containing a scarf from a returned tourist who noticed that their beloved local team wasn't represented in our collection."

He says that out of the 216 scarves, only two are not from soccer teams: one belongs to a Swedish bandy team, the other to an Irish Gaelic football squad. Corbellini says there are a number of rare scarves in the collection, including scarves from Swedish, Russian and inter-German teams, but he singles out the most unusual one as belonging to the Turkish side Diyarbakirspor whose symbol is a slice of watermelon.

So, for those planning a trip to Rome or for foreigners living in the Italian capital who wonder if their local team is represented at the Shamrock, see the list below. Shamrock, Via del Colosseo 1/c, tel. 066791729, www.shamrockpubroma.it.